Ignite Planners LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Ignite Planners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 24,002 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 305 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 2.4% of Ignite Planners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Ignite Planners LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $10,328,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc increased its stake in Microsoft by 169.2% in the 2nd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $45,000. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $75,000. Bellevue Group AG boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 47.5% in the 1st quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 180 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 241.4% during the 2nd quarter. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC now owns 379 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $169,000 after acquiring an additional 268 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.04, for a total value of $1,027,600.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 50,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,552,000. This represents a 4.76 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total value of $3,050,352.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 103,366 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,792,039.56. The trade was a 6.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 183,431 shares of company stock valued at $74,956,968. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $470.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Oppenheimer downgraded Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $503.03.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $417.00 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $421.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $426.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.10 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.29. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $362.90 and a 12 month high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. The business had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.57 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.99 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 12.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Monday, September 16th that allows the company to buyback $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the software giant to buy up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.80%. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.75%.

Microsoft Company Profile

Microsoft Corporation develops and supports software, services, devices and solutions worldwide. The Productivity and Business Processes segment offers office, exchange, SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, office 365 Security and Compliance, Microsoft viva, and Microsoft 365 copilot; and office consumer services, such as Microsoft 365 consumer subscriptions, Office licensed on-premises, and other office services.